When Dartmouth College launched the Basic language 50 years ago, it enabled ordinary users to write code. Millions did. But we've gone backwards since then, and most users now seem unable or unwilling to create so much as a simple macro
  • @FizzyOrange@programming.dev
    2•3 months ago

    Right but it isn’t “the basics of how a computer works” that drives people to learn programming is it?

    Nobody says “aha, now that I know what Giles and folders are I will become a programmer”.

    People become programmers for other reasons:

    • They want to make something (e.g. a game).
    • They are naturally interested in computers.
    • Money.
    • HobbitFoot English
      2•3 months ago

      No, but you need to know the basics of how a computer works to program. And if you are interested in computers, you are going to learn how they work.